Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:7-16; 34:1-9, Psalm 15:1-5, Isaiah 42:5-9, John 8:58 (from She Reads Truth reading plan)
Shakespeare’s Juliet asked, “What’s in a name?” Names can have significant meaning, or can seem common. Some names, when we hear them, conjure up mental images or memories, good or bad.
Moses had spent forty years in the desert hiding from Pharaoh. For Moses, the name Pharaoh likely stirred up feelings of fear, failure, and doubt. I wonder if Moses, while tending sheep in the desert, had questioned God’s plan for his life? I am pretty certain that he did not envision his life turning out this way. Moses had made the biggest mistake of his life, and God was about to call Moses to return to Egypt and confront Pharaoh, the name that had haunted him for years. However, God shifted his focus from the name of Pharaoh to the Name above all names.
I can see the panic attack – heart pounding outside his chest, unable to catch his breath. Moses needed reassurance. Don’t we all? After all, the Israelite people probably thought of him as a coward, a murderer, not a deliverer. We are faced with predicaments of our own. Throughout our lives, our faith will be tested. Like Moses, we look at ourselves in the mirror with fear, doubt, insecurity or uncertainty. The person staring back at us is never enough. But God is.
Moses asked the right question in verse 13, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
“I AM WHO I AM… God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,” (Exodus 3:14; 34:6). Do we believe God is who He says He is? I, like Moses, do not like confrontation or facing my fears, but I am learning to trust God. And like Moses, after all my years of following Jesus, I continue to learn who He is, through every season and every trial.
What are you facing today, or maybe not facing, but running away from? Is your situation hopeless? Is your life in shambles? Are you doubting God’s faithfulness? His love for you? Do you feel like He could never forgive you for what you have done? Are you scared? What is testing your faith today? How does Yahweh…I AM…answer your questions today? Let the truth of His name sink down deep into the painful, fearful, confused places of your heart. Step out in faith, and trust Him.
“The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out,
‘Yahweh! The LORD!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger and filled with
unfailing love
and faithfulness.'”
(Exodus 34:6, NLT)
What’s in a name, indeed!
Better Times 